Fireworks
by Boldly Going Somewhere
Summary: After two centuries of its discontinuation, the Triwizard Tournament returns to Hogwarts. Students and teachers anticipate the prospects of the year, including the Tasks, the Yule Ball, and the unexpected fourth champion, Harry. Even Fred and Hermione have been contributing to the list of unforeseen events. (Fred x Hermione)


_**Before You Read:** This story resides in the Goblet of Fire. It is slightly AU, but it won't affect the main plot of Harry and the Triwizard Tournament. However, some minor parts in the book may be summarized or skipped in general. Major parts like the tasks will always be implemented, but sometimes summarized._

* * *

There was a loud, formal knock at the door of the Burrow. The usual banter thickening the air died down almost instantly. Harry and Ron looked at each other in delight, their eyes glittering.

"That must be Hermione." Ron proclaimed and raced toward the door with Harry at his heels.

Mrs. Weasley, however, got to the door before them. She gripped the knob of the door and pulled it open, beaming down at the brown-haired girl standing on the doorstep.

"Oh, it's so good to see you, Hermione! Come in, come in! George will take your bags upstairs!" She kindly grabbed the bag next to Hermione's feet, crossed the room, and half-handed, half-threw the bag to a tall, red-haired boy.

Mrs. Weasley then leaned in and whispered irritably to him, "Be on your best behavior. And don't you _dare_ think of stuffing a dungbomb in this poor girl's bag!"

"Don't you worry, Mum." He said with an anxious grin on his face, "And besides, my name is Fred!"

The twins broke into laughter, causing Mrs. Weasley to roll her eyes. It seemed as if she had enough of the whole mix-up joke by now.

"Just…bring her things up!" She barked.

"Yes, Mum." Fred sighed and began walking up the creaking stairs to the room Hermione was going to share with Ginny.

"Oh no, oh no, you're not going to be alone with my bag." Hermione cried, marching up the stairs toward Fred.

"And why not?" Fred asked, turning around with an intrigued look.

Hermione hesitated, thinking out her words carefully. "Th-There are special things in there."

_"Very_ detailed description there." Fred muttered, rolling his eyes. He stormed up the staircase and disappeared into Ginny's room.

Hermione groaned, and she turned to Harry and Ron.

"I'll be back in a bit." She then quickly followed Fred into the room. She slammed the door behind her, her eyes locked on the Weasley twin. "Just put my bag-"

Fred was already sifting through her stuff, obviously searching for anything he could get a laugh at. He quickly stopped in his tracks, his eyes brightening.

"Oh, what is this?" Fred asked, and he pulled out a blue dress embroidered with lace. It was rather fancy for Hermione. "What's the occasion?"

Hermione became pink. She grabbed ahold of the dress and struggled to pull it toward her, but Fred's grip was too strong.

"I bought my Hogwarts supplies early. It said that we had to bring formal attire this year." She explained, pulling on her bushy brown hair slightly.

"Hm." Fred murmured in slight interest. He laid the dress on him, and his voice became high and squeaky as he tried his best to imitate Hermione, "My name is Hermione Granger, and I hope someone finally asks me out if I wear this. Don't I look so pretty and gorgeous? Well, off to the library to learn how to make a love potion!"

Hermione let out a somewhat exasperated growl and punched the Weasley square on his forearm. Fred howled in amusement, pretending (And very poorly at that) that the blow was incredibly painful. He rubbed his arm and toppled over onto the bed, making exceptionally fake crying noises.

"Mum! Hermione hurt me!" Fred shouted, awkwardly rolling over the bed sheets.

"Quiet! And stop making a fool of yourself!" Hermione squeaked. She donned an amused grin as she buried her face in her hands.

Fred was unusually friendly now – much friendly than any other time Hermione had talked to him. She was used to Fred being a merciless prankster with George at his side, but now that she was seeing Fred without his twin, he seemed generally more outgoing than secretive; based on the last three years she had known the twins. Now approaching her fourth year at Hogwarts, she then wondered if Fred and George would still pull off even more pranks than before.

"We should go back downstairs." Fred stated in a somewhat formal tone. He hopped off the bed and opened the door. He bowed, "Ladies first."

Hermione went a bit pink once again. She was honestly never used to being treated like a lady; only a - somewhat - ordinary witch that was always brushed aside by everyone except her close friends.

She stepped out onto the staircase, quickly making her way back down into the living room with Fred right behind her.

Harry and Ron were talking to each other near the bottom of the stairs. They both looked up, their impatience reflected from their eyes.

"Took you long enough." Ron groaned, crossing his arms.

"I have some news to tell you." Harry announced to his two friends with a worried look.

Ron nodded, "Well let's go to my room before we get ready for dinner."

The three raced back up the stairs, a rather obnoxious creak emanating after each step on the old wooden boards.

"You best hurry! Mum'll have your head if you don't help prepare dinner!" Fred shouted to his younger brother Ron.

The last thing Hermione heard of him behind her was his soft chuckle she was used to hearing when the twins were in the middle of a prank.

* * *

Soon enough, it was time for dinner. The sky was turning a tint of orange and yellow, guiding the moon's way into the sky. A nice wooden table was set on a grassy hill secluded from the small town nearby. Various dishes were prepared, ready for a feasting of a lifetime. Wooden chairs circled the large table with plates and utensils perfectly set for the family.

"Alright, who's hungry?" Mrs. Weasley asked merrily. Her smile was bright with joy. "Ok, ok, Harry, you can sit next to Ron. Hermione, you can sit next to Harry. Ginny, next to Fred. Percy, next to your father." She was circling the table, continuing to direct everyone to their seats.

Hermione did as she was told and sat next to Harry. She wondered what was going on in his head. Everything Harry told them about an hour ago was still fresh in her mind. She shared his worry of Sirius's whereabouts and what happened to Harry's owl, Hedwig. Sirius couldn't have gotten caught, had he? Hermione assumed that he was a very powerful wizard, and she found it hard to believe that he could get caught so quickly.

"Alright, dig in, everyone!" Mrs. Weasley proudly announced.

Everyone immediately began pouring food onto their plates and bursting into chatter.

Percy and Mrs. Weasley were talking about the Ministry of Magic and some strange problem about cauldrons. To everyone's surprise – most likely if she physically showed it – Hermione thought the matter was rather boring.

Harry and Ron were deeply conversing about the Quidditch World Cup – the reason Hermione and Harry had come to the Burrow for the rest of the summer. She was listening intently until they began on the topic about Viktor Krum, the young Bulgarian Seeker. Hermione rolled her eyes and focused back on the plate in front of her.

_What's so special about Viktor Krum?_ Hermione thought,_ I Have to say that he looks alright, but people only like him because he's famous! Well…_

Tomorrow, Mr. Weasley would be taking the children to see the Quidditch World Cup. Hermione knew Harry and Ron had been anxiously waiting for it all summer. She was happy to be spending summer with her wonderful friends for a change instead of muggles. Almost an entire year surrounded by magic!

* * *

Early in the morning, Mrs. Weasley woke everyone up and got them ready for the World Cup. She cooked them breakfast and retrieved their Hogwarts supply letters so she could buy their things while they were gone. With full stomachs, Mr. Weasley and the children used a portkey to travel to the campground wizards going to the cup were designated to.

Hermione stayed close to her group for the entire time at the campground. She honestly did not feel like socializing with other wizards she didn't know that much about, despite missing the magical world dearly. She wanted to have the usual talks her, Harry, and Ron always had back at Hogwarts, but everyone – even Ginny – seemed to be pouring all their attention on Quidditch. (Hermione wasn't surprised) Everyone except Fred, strangely enough; he seemed much more distant from George today. Hermione had heard from Ron that the twins got in trouble for tricking Harry's cousin, Dudley, into eating bewitched toffee, causing his tongue to grow exceptionally huge, and Fred and George were forced to throw away all the candy by their mother.

_Perhaps they got into a fight?_ Hermione thought.

She got up from the chair she was sitting in and stalked over to Fred.

"Are you okay?" She asked thoughtfully.

Fred seemed to have become much more cheerful once she spoke.

"Of course. Hey, I heard from a few Ministry wizards around here that there'll be a special ball at Hogwarts this year. I guess that's why formal attire is on our supply lists." Fred's voice then became very quiet, and he leaned in toward Hermione, "Don't tell anyone I told you. No student is supposed to know. And Charlie knows something _bigger_ than the ball going on at Hogwarts. If the Ministry has hidden this dance_ this_ well until now, imagine the thing _Charlie _knows!"

"A…a ball?" Hermione repeated, as if ignoring the topic of Charlie and the secret event the dragon-taming Weasley held. "Are you going to wear something nice for a change?"

Fred quickly snapped his finger. "Even better! I'll steal some sweater vests and go as Percy!"

Hermione chuckled. She was starting to like Fred a bit more. He had only been known as that one person who always got into trouble during class. Hermione never liked people like that until now. Fred changed somehow, but she couldn't put her tongue on what it was.

Fred and Hermione spent much of their time at the campground together. They thought they might as well stick together since Ron and Harry had each and other and George was somewhat avoiding Fred. They explored the camp, visiting a few familiar faces- like Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas of Gryffindor -in the process. They also bought from the stands and trolleys around the place that were mostly Quidditch-themed. Fred learned that Hermione also favored the Irish team and promptly gave her a four-leaf clover pin so she could show off her team spirit.

"I'm really not that into all these 'spirit' things, Fred." Hermione hesitantly mumbled. The pin was proudly shouting the names of the Irish Quidditch players, _Troy! Moran! Lynch!_

"Nonsense! And besides, you look rather good with it on." Fred retorted, winking at her.

"I-I do?" Hermione mumbled once again, taken aback.

"Of course!" Fred replied. _Girls always love hearing that kind of stuff, _he thought with a smile.

Two familiar people to Fred caught his eye. He waved his arm high and began beckoning to them, "Lee! Alicia!"

Hermione barely knew who they were. All she knew about them was that they were in Gryffindor; she also loosely recognized Lee Jordan as the Hogwarts Quidditch commentator and the Twins' best friend.

"What's going on, Fred?" Lee asked, but then looked anxiously around. "Where's George?"

"Oh, well he's around here somewhere. I think he's with Ginny or something." Fred bouncily answered, putting his hands in his jean pockets.

Lee and Alicia looked at each other ghastly. They must have felt concerned to see Fred without George as much as Hermione did.

Alicia turned her head to look at the brown-haired girl next to him. "You finally got a girlfriend, I see! Kinda…young, but she seems good for you!"

Hermione's face reddened in embarrassment. She honestly had no idea if that was a compliment or an insult. She nervously looked up at Fred, who was beginning to turn the color of his hair.

"_Not_ a girlfriend! Watch what you say! I still have _loads_ of dungbombs left over from last year." Fred countered, crossing his arms with a marginally amused smile, "And I s'pose that Lee is _your_ boyfriend?"

"Ew, _no!"_ Alicia hissed bitterly.

"E-Excuse me?" Lee growled, angrily staring at Alicia, "And what's wrong with _me?"_

"Nothing!" Alicia sighed apologetically, "It's just that…you're you."

Lee scoffed, "Well I'm sorry for being myself for all these years." He stomped off to a normal-looking tent and disappeared into the latter.

Alicia let out an annoyed sigh. "Boys," She said mostly toward Hermione, "I'll go talk to him." She then scurried off into the tent Lee disappeared into.

"Ah, sixth years." Fred dreamily said, "Same age as me and George, but they can get a tad annoying. Let's go, I think there are more stands over there."

The red-haired boy walked off to the direction of more stands carrying loads of Quidditch trinkets and food. Like Ron would have done, Fred was rushing more toward the food stands than the souvenirs.

"I'll have a bag of Every Flavor Beans!" Fred exclaimed as Hermione neared the stand. He put down in front of the merchant a few sickles, obviously knowing the prices of the beans already.

The merchant counted the money, and then tossed Fred the bag of Every Flavor Beans merrily.

"Have a nice day!" The merchant cried, "Let's hope Bulgaria will win!"

Fred was about to walk off until he heard those words. His eyes narrowed, swiftly turning back around to glower at the man.

"I'm sorry, but Ireland is _clearly_ going to win!" He hissed, pointing to the four-leaf clover pinned to his shirt.

The merchant just let out an exhausted chuckle, and he returned to counting the earnings he got for the day.

Fred opened his mouth to speak, but Hermione didn't want to start a scene, especially since she had noticed that a few people sporting Bulgaria pins and hats were menacingly staring at Fred. She took him by the arm and wandered off to a large tree stump near the beginning of the forest. Fred plopped down onto it and opened the bag with sincere delight.

"Now these things are simple tricks! George and I used to give everyone these things during our first year! Worked great until some _brother_ found out when we stuffed some into Penelope Clearwater's bag. He got Professor McGonagall to give us detention. I still remember it like it was yesterday! Filch had us shining trophies for hours!" Fred laughed; he poured a few beans into the palm of his hand. He seized a tan one and looked at Hermione mischievously.

"Why don't you have a go first?" He proposed with a questionable smile spread across his face.

Hermione's eyes widened, appalled by the very thought. She found it hard to muster enough courage to agree to it.

"N-No thanks." She murmured, shaking her head scarcely.

"Come on! Okay, we can eat one together." Fred sighed and picked up a golden-brown bean from his hand.

"Oh, alright." Hermione whispered, holding her bean close to her mouth. Fred did the same, but with more enthusiasm to know what flavor it truly was.

"Ready?" He began counting down, "Three, two, one…"

Simultaneously, the two gulped down their Every Flavor Bean, letting the random taste settle on their tongues. Hermione almost immediately coughed out the bean, her voice hoarse.

"P-Pencil shavings?!" Hermione gasped in disbelief. She was turning scarlet as her need for water to wash down the upsetting treat grew great.

"Ooh…ear wax." Fred cried out, wincing a bit at the word. However, he stood like a rock, unlike Hermione. "I'll never forget that taste. That was the flavor of the first bean I ever tasted, you know."

The two quickly went through the entire bag. Some were miraculously delicious, like buttered popcorn or lemonade, but many perniciously startled them (Mostly Hermione) with the flavors like peppercorn or dog food. Fred had to admit in his mind that he was proud of Hermione, for she ate more beans than him in the end and never asked for water or anything else to wash out the disgusting flavors, although her facial expressions made her misery clearly known.

"It's getting late. Mr. Weasley will probably be missing us by now." Hermione stated as she looked up at the sky. The sun was hiding in the thick, green trees surrounding the clearing. The sky was pink and orange, decorating the air like ribbons. The hue of orange blanketed the campground, sending the majority of the wizards outside to return to their tents or start supper. Small birds were still flying about, however; they seemed oblivious to the coming of the reminiscent twilight. Their birdsong was music to Fred and Hermione's ears as they neared their own tent. The could hear the voices of Ron and George inside. Hermione crawled into the tent, which was much bigger in the inside than on the outside. She was welcomed to Ron's babbling about Viktor Krum and the smoky scent of dinner cooking. Mr. Weasley made his way across the room carrying a small stack of paper plates.

"No magic?" Hermione asked, repeating the words Mr. Weasley had told everyone once they arrived at the campground.

"Absolutely not!" He replied and passed Fred as he made his way outside to tend to his cooking.

"Fred, c'mere a sec!" George called out from across the room in slight hesitation.

The Weasley twin stepped toward George, and they hunched over secretively over a piece of parchment. Whatever they were working on, it got them back on equal terms once again. Hermione joined Harry near the fireplace, and she settled herself beside Ron. She watched in slight interest Ron's new Krum action figure march around.

"Pass me a Chocolate Frog, would you, Harry?" She politely said to him.

* * *

The next day went as planned. Sort of. Mr. Weasley's party enjoyed the Quidditch World Cup very much; Ireland won to their satisfaction. All was normal until later that night; Death Eaters attacked the campground, torturing a family of Muggles in the process. The Dark Mark was conjured in front of Harry's eyes, prompting the Ministry of Magic to do some detective work as to who conjured the feared sign. Winky, Mr. Crouch's house-elf, was accused of replicating such a formidable spell, but was later presumed innocent. Hermione, however, watched the poor house-elf plead for her master's forgiveness as Mr. Crouch promised her that he was going to free her from his ownership.

_Why doesn't Winky want to be free? _Hermione curiously thought.

Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys returned to the Burrow the next morning, welcomed by a worried Mrs. Weasley.

"You could've died!" She cried, hugging the twins very tightly, "And the last thing I did was yell at you for not getting enough O.W.L.s!"

Only Mr. Weasley and Percy seemed to still severely worry about the Death Eaters. The children chose to enjoy the last hours of summer they had before they returned to Hogwarts.

* * *

_**Author Note:** I've been rather hesitant to post anything up on this website for awhile because of thieves. But they'll always be out there no matter what, so I got myself to post this story. I love this pairing right now, and I'm open to any constructive criticism about anything, be it a character being OOC or any grammar mistakes. Favorites, reviews, and follows are highly appreciated!_


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